Emerging Markets Evening Roundup: FX Action; Taiwan Semi’s Apple Bet

By Ben Levisohn

Its the end of the day–and I see a lot of green on my FactSet screen.

The S&P 500 rallied 0.6%–and Latin America followed suit. Brazil’s Bovespa stock index gained 0.7%, after its central bank left rates on hold–and left many market observers speculating that they could stay put for the rest of 2013–while Mexico’s IPC rose 0.2%, and Chile’s IPSA stock index gain 0.35%. Only Peru and Colombia finished in the red.

The real action, however, was in currencies. The dollar fell 1.05% against the Hungarian forint, 0.7% against the Turkish lira and 0.6% versus the Chilean peso. Those moves look tiny compare to what happened to the yen. It dropped 3.1% against the forint, 1.7% versus the Turkish lira and 1.6% against the Chilean peso.

Want more evidence of the action in FX? Here’s a chart courtesy of Miller Tabak’s Andrew Wilkinson, which shows the recent move of the euro versus the Swiss Franc (the euro is getting stronger):

Wilkinson says, “The chart below looks like a bull run in an illiquid emerging market and illustrates the sea change in sentiment towards the potential threats facing the eurozone.”

About Emerging Markets Daily

Emerging markets have been synonymous with growth, but the outlook for individual nations is constantly changing. Countries from Brazil and Russia to Turkey face challenges including infrastructure bottlenecks, credit issues and political shifts. Barrons.com’s Emerging Markets Daily blog analyzes news, data and research out of emerging markets beyond Asia to help readers navigate the investment landscape.

Barron’s veteran Dimitra DeFotis has been blogging about emerging market investing since traveling to India and Turkey. Based in New York, she previously wrote for Barron’s about U.S. equity investing, including cover stories and roundtables on energy themes. Dimitra was among the first digital journalists at the Chicago Tribune and started her career as a police reporter at the Daily Herald in the Chicago suburbs. Dimitra holds degrees from the University of Illinois and Columbia University, where she was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in the business and journalism schools. She studies multiple languages and photography.